It's time for Big Brother.
In a little more than one week, CBS will kick off the biggest — and longest — season of its summer competition series and The Hollywood Reporter exclusively debuts 15 images of the new "house" (it rests on a soundstage on the CBS lot in Studio City, Calif.), where the houseguests will eat, breathe, live, conspire, backstab, evict, compete and sleep. Ninety-eight microphones will capture their every whisper and 65 cameras will follow their every move.
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: 'Big Brother 15': First Look at the Brand New House
Compared to last season's more "playful," "young," Tokyo pop-inspired palette, production designer Scott Storey — who has been with Big Brother since season six — intentionally designed the set to be more "masculine," "sophisticated" and "grown-up" this time around. "I worked very closely with [executive producers] Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan. It's a two-way conversation," Storey tells THR of designing the house. "I usually come to them with suggestions of what I want to do that year."
For this installment, which longtime host Julie Chen revealed includes more houseguests than ever, Storey was interested in incorporating the famous 1964 New York World's Fair. "When I explain that to people, they go: 'I totally see it!' And for whatever reason, I was enamored with the shape of an arrow," Storey tells THR, inspired by Catch Me If You Can's opening credits. (Watch them here.) Other themes in the house this year include jet travel, Eames, "It's a Small World" designer Mary Blair and Southern California.
PHOTOS: CBS' 2013-14 Season: 'Hostages,' 'Intelligence,' 'Mom' and 'The Millers'
The design of the home will naturally find itself seeping into the overarching theme of the season. "It certainly plays into the season," Storey says, though adds that it may not always be the case.
There are several parts of the house that have yet to be revealed, including the front of the house, which Chen will debut on premiere night, and the Have Not bedroom. It being Big Brother, though, there will likely be many more surprises in store. (Watch the video below with Chen for more hints on what's missing in the Big Brother house.)
What do you think of the new Big Brother house? For exclusive images of the set-up, go here.
Big Brother debuts June 26 on CBS.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
